The concept of " virginity " for people with vaginas has a complicated history, and has often been incorrectly linked to breaking the hymen. Bleeding after sexual intercourse was incorrectly thought to be proof of an unbroken hymen, and thus, proof that a person had not had sex before. The reality, however, is that the state of your hymen has nothing to do with sexual activity. With the help of Dr. Jessica Shepherd , a board-certified ob-gyn and a spokesperson for Paragard, and Alexandra Eisler , a health and sex educator from Healthy Teen Network, we're going to separate fact from fiction and explain what a hymen is, how a hymen breaks, and its complicated relationship with the historical concept of virginity. Read on for 9 facts you need to know about this tiny tissue.

Everyone born with a vagina has a hymen, a collar of tissue at the entrance to your vagina. Just as all bodies are different, hymens are also different. Looking at a hymen does not tell you anything about virginity. Throughout history, patriarchal cultures have used the sexual history of girls and women to determine their status and value, as well as the status of their families and communities. It is wrongly assumed that by looking at the hymen you can prove whether a woman is a virgin. The hymen is a stretchy collar of tissue at the entrance to your vagina.

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